According to reports, Sky has plans to reshuffle its entertainment channel lineup from next year, including the rebranding of Living TV and arrival of new channel Sky Atlantic.

From early 2011, Sky Atlantic will launch exclusively on Sky to host content from the satellite broadcaster's recent multi-million pound deal with US studio HBO.

After acquiring The Living TV Group from Virgin Media in June, Sky has announced that the Living channel will be rebranded as Sky Living from next year.

The two channels plus Sky1 will appear side-by-side on the front page of Sky's electronic programme guide (EPG).

Sky 1 will continue on channel 106, Sky Living (the former Living) will move up the guide to 107 while the new Sky Atlantic will take 108. The slots are currently occupied by Sky 1 and sister channels Sky 2 and Sky 3.

Sky1, Sky Living and Sky Atlantic will be available to all existing Sky customers at no extra charge as part of the basic subscription package.

Note that BBC One HD, BBC HD adn ITV1 HD are all available for free with no viewing card.
ITV1, C4 HD and Five HD are available with a viewing crd, and no subscription.
All other channels require the extra £10 per month Sky HD subscription

The BBC, not Sky, have been reallocating their channel to different satellite transponder frequencies.

This means that some channel you used to watch with full all day reception may now only be avilable for part of the dat.

One example is BBC1 Channel Islands on Sky channel 988.

Before today, Monday 18 October, this was regarded as being one of the strongest BBC regions for watching BBC1 TV in the Costa blanca and Spain. After todays changes, it is now one of the weakest satellite TV channels!

However, one of the benefits is that now, expats in weak signal areas like Spain, can now watch increease reception of BBC2 - using the BBC2 Wales and BBC2 Northern Ireland variations on Sky Channel 991 and 992

Sunday, October 17, 2010

This will also apply to the Sky Movies Showcase HD channel also (Sky HD 314)

It will not be available to freesatfromsky card users.

The weekend includes a selection of movies that will keep the whole family amused, including thepetrol-head sequel Fast & Furious, the adaptation of popular rom-com novel Confessions of a Shopaholic, buddy comedy Role Models, and the animated adventure featuring John Travolta voicing a dog who thinks he's a superhero in Bolt.

And for those of you watching in HD, you can see all the movies showing in the Free Weekend in ridiculously sumptuous detail. So if you've only ever seen Forrest Gump when you rented it on video, or A Bug's Life back when your dad recorded it onto VHS, you're going to be stunned by how good films can really look.

We will be adding much more soon, so come back and visit for the full schedule of films as well as a chance to win some fantastic prizes.

are all leaving their current frequency, and moving to the frequency currently used by BBC2 England - 10773 H
This means that their reception will be as per BBC2 England.
This means that BBC Channel Islands will no longer be recognised as being the strongest BBC1 region.

BBC1 Manchester
BBC1 Leeds
BBC 1 Tunbridge Wells

are all leaving their current frequency, and moving to the frequency currently used by BBC RAdio 5 Live and BBC1&2 Scotland - 10.802 H
This means that their reception will again be as per / similar to BBC2 England.

BBC1 Wales and BBC2 Wales

will be moving from their current frequency to 10.788v - moving from a weaker horizontal to a stronger vertical frequency. So these Wales regions reception will be as per most BBC1 regions ie - almost 24/7 on most big dishes. Meaning some areas will have 24/7 reception of a BBC2 region.

BBC1 Northern Ireland and BBC2 Northern Ireland

will be moving from their current frequency to 10.817v - moving from a weaker horizontal to a stronger vertical frequency. So these Northern Ireland regions reception will be as per most BBC1 regions ie - almost 24/7 on most big dishes. Meaning some areas will have 24/7 reception of a BBC2 region.

Why the changes?
The BBC have had to have a move around to amke space for the BBC1 HD channel.
This will be starting on Wednesday 3rd November.
The BBC had to make space for this channel, which will be on the same frequency as BBCHD channel.
The BBCHD channel will continue to operate showing "the best of the BBC in HD", and the BBC1 HD channel will be a simulcast of BBC1 London.

It will mean that if you watch BBC1 Channel Islands, then you will find that its reception has changed.

It will also mean that you should now have much better coverage of BBC2, either via BBC2 England (reception not changing), BBC2 Northern Ireland, and BBC2 Wales. The latter two regions have almost the same schedules as BBC2 England, with some minor changes for regional programmes.

Freesat and Sky boxes will automatically update themselves on Monday 18th October 2010 with these new frequencies.

Those with Non Sky or Freesat boxes will have to rescan the channels to make sure your boxes have the new BBC1 and BBC2 frequencies.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

According to reports the BBC are changing some of their frequencies and transponders:

BBC 1 NI, BBC 2 NI, BBC 4, BCeebies will move transponder.

BBC 1/2 NI will move to 10,817 Vert - This means that BBC2 should be available for longer periods than is currently possible. It may mean some have 24/7 of BBC2...

Note that BBC2 NI shows almost the same schedule as BBC2UK, but there are some regional changes, so it may not be exactly like BBC2 England.

BBC4/CBeebies will move to 10,802 Horz - no real change in reception there really.

According to reports BBC One HD will launch on November 3rd - on 10,847 V, the same transponder as BBCHD channel.

Tihs may mean that BBC Channel Islands may also be moving to another transponder and so will no longer be the "best" for BBC1 reception, although nothing has been confirmed.
For more information please visit:

Friday, October 8, 2010

In the morning between 10am and 11am, you may well be losing signals, especailly on the weaker BBC and ITV channels, for about 10 minutes.

This is normal - or rather there is little we can do about this.

It is a solar outage.

Basically, the sub is directly in line with the satellites and the earth, and its solar energy "swamps" the satellites, and knocks out those weaker signals, especially those frequencies on Astra 2d.

If you look on your prime focus dish at around this time you can monitor this your self, as you will see the shadow of the LNB in the middle of the dish. This is when the sun is swamping the satellite the most. As you see the shadow move away from the dish the signals will reappear.

Like i said this only happens twice a year, for about 7 to 10 days around 10am to 11am.

A new channel from the Movies4Men stable, will be launched soon on Freesat.
It has been annnounced that that “Men & Movies” will launch their new channel on Freesat on the 4th October 2010.
It will be available on Freesat channel 143.
At first it looks like this new channel will be a Freesat exclusive channel, as will appear on the Freesat EPG, but looks that, at first, it will not be added to the Sky EPG.

However, Sky owners should still be able to watch this channel by adding it to the “Other Channels” lists by adding the channel via Services using frequency 11426 H 27500 2/3 – (although some Sky boxes, like Sky+ boxes, are not allowing you to add this for whatever reason!)

Currently the Freesat EPG shows programme information starting next Monday 4th October.
The channel looks to be broadcasting a number of movies from the catalogue owned by Movies4Men, along with a number of documentaries -
The Hindenburg Disaster
Blitz on Berlin
The Battle of Midway
Bombers of the Second World War
World Of Sport
Any Gun Can Play
Kentucky Rifle
Cimarron Strip
Conan The Adventurer
Codename Wild Geese
The new Men and Movies channel will be transmitted from the Eurobird 1 satellite.

This is the official press statement

London, 04 October 2010: The ultimate entertainment for men with action, documentaries, horror, sci-fi, war and westerns wings its way onto UK screens today, as Freesat announces the exclusive launch of Men & Movies on the free-to-air satellite TV service.
The newest channel from Dolphin Broadcast Services, the channel operator subsidiary of Dolphin Television, Men & Movies brings male viewers an exciting array of films, sport and documentary features across an eclectic range of genres. Its addition to the Freesat line-up, on Channel 143, offers a thrilling destination for men who want more choice in their TV entertainment without having to pay a monthly subscription.
The arrival of Men & Movies follows hot on the heels of time-shifted ‘+1’ channels Movies4Men and Movies4Men2 on Freesat, launched last week to give its male audience a wider option of film start times across the schedule*.
Freesat’s Head of Channels, Mark Briggs said, “Whether you’re into war history, visiting sci-fi fantasy worlds, or classics from the wrestling ring, Freesat now gives you exclusive access to a channel packed with content to indulge your die-hard TV passions. Men & Movies further strengthens our entertainment genre on offer as we continue to bring greater subscription-free choice to audiences right across the UK.”
David Goffin, Managing Director of Dolphin Television said: “We are delighted to launch this as a first to the Freesat audiences. We know our film channels are already very popular and we hope this eclectic mix of male-biased entertainment will further enhance their viewing.”

Men & Movies will automatically be added to viewers’ Freesat service via their TVs or digital boxes, meaning men can get their slice of the action straight away without having to manually re-tune.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Sky today announced plans to launch Sky Atlantic HD , a new entertainment channel, in early 2011.

Sky Atlantic will provide an exclusive home to some of the most hotly anticipated shows in television to customers throughout the UK and Ireland.

Following Sky and HBO's multi-year output deal announced in July, Sky Atlantic HD will air all of HBO's new series exclusively in the UK and Ireland including the already critically acclaimed Boardwalk Empire . The Prohibition-era drama from acclaimed director and Oscar® winner Martin Scorsese and The Sopranos' Emmy® Award winning writer Terence Winter features an all-star cast including Steve Buscemi , Michael Pitt and Kelly Macdonald. Boardwalk Empire made its US debut on HBO on September 19, 2010 and a UK and Ireland premiere is scheduled for February 2011. The series has already been green lit for a second season after scoring HBO's best premiere audience for over six years.

Other upcoming HBO productions to be broadcast by Sky Atlantic HD include the fantasy drama Game of Thrones , based on the series of books A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, Luck , executive produced by David Milch and Michael Mann and starring two time Oscar® winner Dustin Hoffman , Mildred Pierce starring Oscar® winner Kate Winslet and the new series from David Simon ( The Wire ), the New Orleans set Treme , which chronicles the rebuilding of the city following the historic devastation at the hands of Hurricane Katrina . In addition, future seasons of existing HBO shows - such as Entourage and Big Love - will be broadcast exclusively on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Ireland. Furthermore, some of the most critically lauded series of recent times including The Sopranos , The Wire , Six Feet Under and Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' The Pacific will also air on the channel. The content will also be offered to Sky customers via Sky's on-demand platforms, including the soon-to-launch Sky Anytime+ service.

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